Looking for a simple, ranged class to PVP with

[Colonel Sandor]

I've been mainly a PVE player since BC, but I feel like creating a character specifically for PVP.

What I'm looking for is a class that is simple in playstyle. In PVP settings, I currently have a hard time pressing a lot of diff buttons. Which frustrates me, but I am trying. I'm looking for a ranged class/spec that is simple in gameplay for a starter PVPer.

Hopefully this isn't a stereotypical new pvper post but, oh well.

[Krusza]

Probably more important to look at how specs are functioning in Legion rather than current expansion.

What do you want to play? arenas or rbgs mainly?

[Appelgren]

Roll a mage and be set for life no matter if you play arenas, rbgs or world pvp

[Darometh]

Roll a mage and be set for life no matter if you play arenas, rbgs or world pvp

Or PvE. Basically main mage and be top tier at everything without effort

[Appelgren]

Or PvE. Basically main mage and be top tier at everything without effort

Yes ofcourse. PVE included

[Colonel Sandor]

Probably more important to look at how specs are functioning in Legion rather than current expansion.

What do you want to play? arenas or rbgs mainly?

rbgs mainly.

[Krusza]

Roll a mage and be set for life no matter if you play arenas, rbgs or world pvp

rbgs mainly.

Mages aren't really wanted for RBGs.

For an "easy to play" caster for mainly RBGs I'd probably say your best bet is boomkin or spriest. They're always wanted for groups, and they're probably a bit easier to play than affli. Boomkin doesn't require a lot, besides tracking eclipse, and I find it quite fun.

[Colonel Sandor]

Mages aren't really wanted for RBGs.

For an "easy to play" caster for mainly RBGs I'd probably say your best bet is boomkin or spriest. They're always wanted for groups, and they're probably a bit easier to play than affli. Boomkin doesn't require a lot, besides tracking eclipse, and I find it quite fun.

Why aren't mages wanted for RBG's?

[Deleted]

Hunter. Nothing is simpler than a hunter.

[zephix]

Why aren't mages wanted for RBG's?

Because they dont do as much aoe dmg as boomkin/lock and dont sit/ninja bases as well as a rogue

They're alright in team fights as fire/arcane with crystal because of the burst, and they can defend alright, its just that the other classes do the jobs better

[Appelgren]

Well if you want to be RBG exclusive then go boomkin. If you want to be the best generally then go mage.

[Orangetai420]

Mage gets my vote. They are awesome in all aspects of the game and always will be.

I find boomkin sorta clunky, mage is very straight forward.

[-Gr-]

I've been mainly a PVE player since BC, but I feel like creating a character specifically for PVP.

What I'm looking for is a class that is simple in playstyle. In PVP settings, I currently have a hard time pressing a lot of diff buttons. Which frustrates me, but I am trying. I'm looking for a ranged class/spec that is simple in gameplay for a starter PVPer.

Hopefully this isn't a stereotypical new pvper post but, oh well.

Mage. Think of frost as master cleave and cc boss. It's definitely viable in RBGs still. No dots but they can sure as hell burst down a healer when needed.
Don't like frost? Go fire, boss cc chain and pretty nice dmg, especially aoe if you can get your fire rolling. Frost is still your best bet.
Balance Druid isn't hard but there are many buttons to press if you want to be considered decent at it. Also depends on how comfortable you are with shifting.
Warlock is the same way, not hard but many buttons if you want to be decent at it, plus kiting will be difficult if you don't have movement down. (keyboard turning)
Hunter is ok right now and it's what I see the most people play in pvp that are...above 40 years old that are new to the game. In the right hands it's still deadly.
Shadow Priest is great but you need to know the spec and the DRs to understand how to lock a player down right. other than that LOLcascade all the things! (not recommended for new players as it's the only dps spec for priest and you're screwed if they nerf it)

Just know that pvp is a lot easier when you have macros and keybinds. It will be hard to get used to new keybinds but try to do it anyway, it will be beneficial to you.

If you are new and need to get "warmed up" to pvp I'd suggest mage hands down.

Don't be discouraged to stick with it when you're getting pooped on. Practice with one class for a long time, do skirmishes bgs anything really just play the spec a LOT.
If you think you're finally good enough to do RBGs and have full gear and enchants then by all means find a group!


Watch some twitch streams or youtube videos on the class you pick, research your class even though you think you got it down. You could be missing something.
It helps a lot to know how to counter each class and spec, it's always beneficial to know what your opponent has in his/her arsenal and how you might be able to counter it.

Use addons and don't be afraid to! if you need trackers or just plain need to see things better, addons will help you. Don't be afraid. Some people don't use them, that's totally fine. But that doesn't mean they are bad for you. if you don't like addons then don't worry because you don't have to use them to be great at pvp!

Some people use Gladius, DR tracker, tidy plates, Elvui even. I use Weak Auras and battleground targets along with Elvui and that's about it.

Good luck on your adventures in pvp!

[Deleted]

I personally had most fun with my mage, but initially I struggled a LOT with getting positioned well enough to able to spam frostbolts and build up my damage. Coming from more support dps role (mainly played Ret and WW before), it also took bit of time to get used to CC chaining and finding the balance between damage and CC spam in arenas.


In my opinion the easiest ranged to get into is hunter as you don't have to deal with positioning nearly as much as other casters (who have to find spots to get their hard casts off), you are pretty much a dps tunneler with some easy to use CC. Though you will probably struggle against other casters as hunter.

[Colonel Sandor]

Mage. Think of frost as master cleave and cc boss. It's definitely viable in RBGs still. No dots but they can sure as hell burst down a healer when needed.
Don't like frost? Go fire, boss cc chain and pretty nice dmg, especially aoe if you can get your fire rolling. Frost is still your best bet.
Balance Druid isn't hard but there are many buttons to press if you want to be considered decent at it. Also depends on how comfortable you are with shifting.
Warlock is the same way, not hard but many buttons if you want to be decent at it, plus kiting will be difficult if you don't have movement down. (keyboard turning)
Hunter is ok right now and it's what I see the most people play in pvp that are...above 40 years old that are new to the game. In the right hands it's still deadly.
Shadow Priest is great but you need to know the spec and the DRs to understand how to lock a player down right. other than that LOLcascade all the things! (not recommended for new players as it's the only dps spec for priest and you're screwed if they nerf it)

Just know that pvp is a lot easier when you have macros and keybinds. It will be hard to get used to new keybinds but try to do it anyway, it will be beneficial to you.

If you are new and need to get "warmed up" to pvp I'd suggest mage hands down.

Don't be discouraged to stick with it when you're getting pooped on. Practice with one class for a long time, do skirmishes bgs anything really just play the spec a LOT.
If you think you're finally good enough to do RBGs and have full gear and enchants then by all means find a group!


Watch some twitch streams or youtube videos on the class you pick, research your class even though you think you got it down. You could be missing something.
It helps a lot to know how to counter each class and spec, it's always beneficial to know what your opponent has in his/her arsenal and how you might be able to counter it.

Use addons and don't be afraid to! if you need trackers or just plain need to see things better, addons will help you. Don't be afraid. Some people don't use them, that's totally fine. But that doesn't mean they are bad for you. if you don't like addons then don't worry because you don't have to use them to be great at pvp!

Some people use Gladius, DR tracker, tidy plates, Elvui even. I use Weak Auras and battleground targets along with Elvui and that's about it.

Good luck on your adventures in pvp!

Had to respond to this post (due to the effort involved). Thanks, I think I'm leaning to turn on my hunters to pvp. I'll look up some of those addons as well.

[Appelgren]

Had to respond to this post (due to the effort involved). Thanks, I think I'm leaning to turn on my hunters to pvp. I'll look up some of those addons as well.

hunter is good for farming rare mobs, 2v2 with a resto druid and random battlegrounds. Enjoy!

[Orangetai420]

Good luck on your adventures in pvp!

Great post, wish the forums were full of more people like Possessed.

All of this advice is great, the most important points: keybinds, macros, mouse turning, practice. Don't let anyone tell you that clicking is comparable to keybinds, it's just not true. When you learn how to keybind your reactions will be much, much faster. You need to give it time and build muscle memory. Also, find like-minded players. At times the community can seem really toxic and the balance of the game can be frustrating, finding chill people to play with and have fun makes a world of difference.

Advice on keybinding: start by changing turn left/right to strafe left/right and then keybind your rotational abilities to comfortable keys (try starting with your main 4-5 abilities and working your way up as you get used to each new keybind). Also, a mouse with extra side buttons is really helpful for binding cooldowns or escapes. I love the mouse wheel for interrupts. Learn to love the shift modifiers and look in to help / harm macros if you ever decide to play a healer or more support oriented spec.

One last point: focus macros or even better @arena1,2,3 macros will make your life much easier when it comes to CC'ing healers.

The addon GladiatorlosSA is useful when you are learning how to play arena. It announces important enemy spells and until you learn visual/sound cues it is extremely helpful. I recommend disabling it everywhere except arena - otherwise you get spammed.

More addons: Interruptbar (might be called Omnibar now), also want to point out tidyplates again - probably one of the only addons I can't live without (the other being MikScrollingBattleText)

Oh! and mouseover macros are a godsend.

[-Gr-]

Had to respond to this post (due to the effort involved). Thanks, I think I'm leaning to turn on my hunters to pvp. I'll look up some of those addons as well.

Solid choice! My wife actually plays a hunter and mage and loves both of them.
I lean towards druid/dk myself but it all depends on your playstyle.
Pretty much any class can be fun in pvp if you know it well. Some people just like to be vocal about their toons weaknesses more-so than others.

I personally had most fun with my mage, but initially I struggled a LOT with getting positioned well enough to able to spam frostbolts and build up my damage. Coming from more support dps role (mainly played Ret and WW before), it also took bit of time to get used to CC chaining and finding the balance between damage and CC spam in arenas.


In my opinion the easiest ranged to get into is hunter as you don't have to deal with positioning nearly as much as other casters (who have to find spots to get their hard casts off), you are pretty much a dps tunneler with some easy to use CC. Though you will probably struggle against other casters as hunter.

Hunters can be strait up nasty with good experience with trap chains and even after the nerfs as a resto druid I have been killed by surv hunts in rated pvp. The pressure they put out is pretty unreal. Also they counter mages quite well. I mostly suggested mage for the ability to kite and burst when needed, and you always have iceblock to save you! lol.

Great post, wish the forums were full of more people like Possessed.

All of this advice is great, the most important points: keybinds, macros, mouse turning, practice. Don't let anyone tell you that clicking is comparable to keybinds, it's just not true. When you learn how to keybind your reactions will be much, much faster. You need to give it time and build muscle memory. Also, find like-minded players. At times the community can seem really toxic and the balance of the game can be frustrating, finding chill people to play with and have fun makes a world of difference.

Advice on keybinding: start by changing turn left/right to strafe left/right and then keybind your rotational abilities to comfortable keys (try starting with your main 4-5 abilities and working your way up as you get used to each new keybind). Also, a mouse with extra side buttons is really helpful for binding cooldowns or escapes. I love the mouse wheel for interrupts. Learn to love the shift modifiers and look in to help / harm macros if you ever decide to play a healer or more support oriented spec.

One last point: focus macros or even better @arena1,2,3 macros will make your life much easier when it comes to CC'ing healers.

The addon GladiatorlosSA is useful when you are learning how to play arena. It announces important enemy spells and until you learn visual/sound cues it is extremely helpful. I recommend disabling it everywhere except arena - otherwise you get spammed.

More addons: Interruptbar (might be called Omnibar now), also want to point out tidyplates again - probably one of the only addons I can't live without (the other being MikScrollingBattleText)

Oh! and mouseover macros are a godsend.

Very nice advice for arenas here. Target macros and focus macros are your best friend. Time is not on your side in arenas because dampening will kill you eventually. You need to take the enemy out as quick as possible, and these will help you heavily!

[Deleted]

Try boomkin its fun as hell. Or destro

[Useful]

hunter meets the simplicity requirement but has a number of counters. me myself currently playing an aflli lock and having a blast.